1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle wheel aligner comprising a number of heads having angle measuring instruments for measuring the alignment characteristics of a vehicle. More particularly, the invention relates to a clamping device for mounting the heads to a vehicle which has had its wheels removed.
2. Description of Related Art
Vehicle wheel aligners are well known in the art. Such aligners typically comprise a number of alignment heads which are mountable relative to the wheels of a vehicle and include angle measuring instruments for measuring the alignment characteristics of the vehicle. The heads are typically mounted to the rims of the wheels using wheel clamps. Examples of such wheel clamps can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,202 issued to Ettinger; U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,216 issued to Swayne; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,136 issued to Ragan, all of which are owned by the assignee hereof.
Often it is desired to measure certain alignment characteristics of a vehicle with the wheels removed. Prior art wheel clamps which are designed to engage the rims of a wheel are not useful in these circumstances. Instead, flange plates have been used to mount the heads directly to the hubs of the vehicle. These flange plates typically include a transverse shaft on which the head is mounted and a number of holes corresponding to the bolts on the hub. However, since a wide range of hub sizes and bolt patterns exist among the many different models of vehicles, a large inventory of flange plates is usually required.